Take a bow, Highlanders. As far as final farewells go, this was not only the icing on the cake, but the cherry on top as well.
The Highlanders scored an emphatic 48-15 victory over the Sharks at Forsyth Barr Stadium last night in the side's final game at the indoor venue for the season.
It was champagne stuff at times as the home team ran the South Africans around and was a pace ahead of the opposition all night.
The Highlanders scored seven tries to two and never gave the visiting side a sniff as they ended their stay in Dunedin in spectacular fashion.
It was beautiful to watch at times and a great way to start the run into the home straight of the competition.
The passes were fast and accurate, the running was strong and hard and there was a real show of desperation and desire from the men in blue.
Nothing displayed that better than when big lock Mark Reddish scored a try in the second half.
Reddish showed pace even he probably did not think he had, bursting from a lineout to pounce on a messy Sharks tap back to score the fourth, and bonus-point, try.
It was a side on top of its game and the tight five put in a fantastic effort.
The scrum was rock-solid all night and won a penalty 5m from its own line in the second half.
That broke the back of the Sharks and they never looked likely in the contest again.
Although it would be hard to signal out any Highlanders player, Lima Sopoaga pulled the strings for the home team while the two Smiths, Aaron and Ben, showed their undoubted quality.
Up front no-one was better than hooker Liam Coltman while Reddish keeps getting better.
The Sharks were one-trick ponies with their rolling maul and it could be a long tour for the South Africans.
The Highlanders were in control for most of the first half and fully deserved their halftime lead.
They made the perfect start, with blindside flanker Gareth Evans going over after just four minutes.
The home team rumbled the ball up to 5m within the Sharks tryline and a wide pass allowed Evans to get round his marker and waltz over.
The Highlanders were finding the advantage line with ease but just could not get across to add to their score in the early stages. About halfway through the half, the Highlanders went the wrong way at a ruck in the shadow of the Sharks goalposts.
Points eventually came through a Sopoaga penalty.
But the Sharks then gained the ascendancy and tied the scores up quickly.
Fred Zeilinga knocked over a penalty and, just over five minutes later, big prop Tendai Mtawarira barged over.
However, the home team responded quickly with a quick one-two uppercut.
Aaron Smith took a quick tap from a penalty and linked with Ben Smith.
From the ensuring ruck, the ball went to Sopoaga who put in a delightful chip for Waisake Naholo to score.
Sopoaga banged over the extras from the sideline.
A couple of minutes later the Highlanders were in again on the other side of the field, when Patrick Osborne used his bulk to break through two tacklers to score.
Sopoaga again nailed the conversion from the sideline.
The ODT Express was won by the Southern club at halftime last night.
The team of Nathan Cargo and Ryan Thompson won the sprint of two lengths of the field and then successfully kicked a dropped goal from the 22m line to win the $12,000 prize.
